| |
| |
|
|
7/19/2010 12:00 AMMark Peterson, Stewartville STAR With a pair of voter-approved levies set to expire soon, Stewartville school officials are pondering how to present the public with another levy request this November. Currently, the district receives $200.35 per-pupil unit from a levy approved by district voters in November 2001. The new money was designed to help the district climb out of debt, achieve a positive general fund balance, reduce class sizes, reinstate previously eliminated programs and enhance the curriculum. That levy is scheduled to expire after the 2011-12 school year. The district also receives $620 per pupil unit, or about $1.1 million per year, from another levy approved by district voters in November 2004. That money is used to maintain class sizes and educational programs, pay operational costs and replace instructional supplies. The $620 per pupil unit levy is scheduled to expire at the end of the 2014-15 school year. Jim Schmitt of Springsted Inc. of St. Paul spoke to the School Board at a five-hour retreat last week about options for presenting the public with a fund-raising levy referendum this fall. Schmitt told board members that they could revoke both the $200 and $620 levies and ask district residents to replace them with a combined larger amount. Doing so may be risky, he said. "Putting all your eggs in one basket may not be the best move strategically for you," he said. The district's finance committee will discuss options for the referendum at a meeting set for Monday, July 26. The finance committee includes School Board members Joe Waugh, Dean Mikel and Tara Stockman along with Dan Schroeder, the district's business manager, and Dr. David Thompson, superintendent. The committee is expected to make a recommendation to the full School Board later that day. The School Board is then expected to vote on that recommendation at a meeting on Monday, Aug. 9. Mikel said that the School Board and the district have been fiscally responsible. Funds from a new levy would help the district retain its fiscal integrity, he said. "We've had a pretty stable ship here in Stewartville as far as how we're fiscally maintaining the district," Mikel said. "I think we're trying to maintain that." The $820 Stewartville collects in voter-approved, per-pupil levy funds each year is considerably below the state average, Thompson said. Statewide, each school district collects an average of about $915 per pupil unit from local levies, he said. Schmitt said that the district will enhance its chances for approving a new levy if the School Board unanimously supports a resolution to go ahead with the referendum. District officials must also plan and execute a comprehensive six- to eight-week campaign, he said. "You need to have some key VIPs in your community involved--high credibility people who have a network," he said. "The message is important, but who delivers the message is also very important." To approve the levy, the district must also establish committees that seek support from school employees and from district residents who are not school employees, Schmitt said. A canvassing committee should determine the number of people who will vote yes, he said. "Identifying (the yes voters) is one thing," he said. "You still need to make sure the yes voters get to the polls. My guess is that in your district, 70 percent of the registered voters will vote." It's more difficult for school districts to pass levy referendums in even-year elections when presidential or gubernatorial races are also on the ballot, Schmitt said. "Even-year elections require more effort to get your message to the voters," Schmitt wrote in a memo to the School Board. "Governor and presidential elections become the primary focus for most voters." http://www.thinkstewartville.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=78&ArticleID=3884 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Helping parents have a voice at the places where school policy and funding decisions are made. | ||||||||||||||||||||||